Mar 20th 2014, 2:26:19
My Biases: Ohio and Tennessee. I consider these my two home states and admit to being biased in their favor. However, the designs are simple and meaningful. Both utilize significant symbolism. TN uses a light touch on symbolism. Ohio uses a lot of symbolism, but there are symbols within symbols, so the flag is not too busy.
Ohio's Flag symbolism:
The triangle: Ohio's Hills and Valleys
The Stripes: Roads and Waterways; also the five states of the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan).
The Stars: The thirteen original states are represented by the stars at the left of the flag; add the four stars in a diamond pattern at the right to make 17 stars representing Ohio as the 17th state. I don't think that Ohio can be docked for overuse of the stars to represent the original or other states as it was only the fourth to enter the union after the revolution.
The White Circle with Red Center: Represents the first letter of the state name and its nickname, "The Buckeye State".
Special Note on Ohio's Flag - It's not a rectangle. Officially it's shaped in the Ohio burgee.
Tennessee's Flag symbolism:
Blue Bar at the right: purely a design element to break up the otherwise red background.
The Three Stars: The three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. These Grand Divisions do still play an important part in TN as the State Supreme Court must be comprised of no more than two justices from each Grand Division. (Right now, if Janice M. Holder were to retire or be thrown out, she would have to be replaced by someone in West Tennessee.)
The Blue Circle: Surrounds the stars and represents the unity of the Grand Divisions.